Rug strand



O. T. WAITE Dec. 1, 1925- RUG STRAND Filed March 23, 1923 fm/gp Z07 055162714. M62226 Patented Dec. 1, 1925.

UNITED sirarss P 1,564,036 gram osrics,

OSSIAN T. WAI'I'E, OF OSHKOSII, W'IEECONSIN, ASSIGNOR TO WAITE GRASS CARPET COMPANY, OF OSHKOSH, WISCONSIN, A CORPORATION OF WISCONSIN.

nus STRAND.

Application filed March 23, 1923. Serial No. 527,127.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, Ossmn T. VVAITE, a citizen of the United States, residing at Oshkosh, in the county of Winnebago and State of lVisconsin, have invented certam new and useful Improvements in Rug Strands, of which the following is a specification.

The rug strand of the present inventlon is used in the making of rugs of that type which employs a continuous length of material wound upon itself in a circular or oval formation and in constantly widening turns or convolutions, the contiguous edges of which are stitched together to unite the rug into a unitary structure. In the form shown, the continuous length of material, which may for convenience he termed a rope, is composed of three constituents braided together after a manner which has long been employed in the rug making art, especially when practiced as a home industry from colonial times to the present day. In the making of such rugs it has been customary to braid together three constituents of woven fabric, such as rag strips, tape or the like; and rugs of this character are extensively used. However, it is found that a rug constructed in this manner, by reason of the spirality of its windings which imposes an uneven strain on the inner and outer edge of each convolution, tends to cause the completed rug to bulge in the center, so that it will not lie flat and even upon the floor,

' which, of course, is a serious objection.

The present invention is intended to overcome this difficulty and to materially reduce the expense of making such rugs in commercial quantities, by employing stiffening material, such as grass twine, as a component, in the braiding of the rope, which stiffening constituent, being in the form of a somewhat loosely assembled bundle of grass or the like, has the effect of easily accommodating itself to inequalities of tension due to the spiral winding, and also by reason of its stifi or harsh character, tends to prevent a bulging or dishing of the completed rug. By combining such stiffening materials with a constituent of woven fabric, a comparatively soft and pliable surface texture is afforded by the relatively pliable fabric, which moreover affords a more durable surface, and, since both the fabric and the grass constituents are intermittently exposed to the surface, the rug possesses a. unique and attractive appearance in comparison with rugs composed either wholly of fabric or wholly of grass.

In the drawings:

Figure 1 is a sectionof a braided rope or length of material used in the present rug; an

Fig. 2 is a plan view of a spiral rug, partlDy finished in, to exhibit the surface texure.

Therug as shown is formed of a rope comprising a strand A of woven fabric such as tape or the like, which is braided with two strands of grass-twine B, or like relatively stiff fibrous material. The constituents B are preferably composed of bulky twine consisting of relatively stiff wisps of grass bundled together and bound around 'by a spiral wrapping thread D. The rope thus com-posed is preferably built into a rug by laying a continuous strand of the rope in spiral convolutions, as shown in Fig. 2, and stitching the contiguous edges thereof by means of lines of cross stitching C.

It will be observed that, although the fabric comprises but a single constituent of the three composing the braid, nevertheless, the single constituent, being relatively flat or thin as compared with the cross sectionaldimensions of the two grass constituents, tends to spread over a much larger area than a third of the exposed surface, so that practically half of the surface tread of the rug'is afforded by the fabric, which, being closely woven and relatively pliable, tends to protect the relatively brittle texture of the grass against wear, thereby greatly prolonging the life of the rug and affording a softer tread to the user. The stiff character of the grass, however, subserves the distinct function of holding the rug in a fiat plane and affording the necessary bulk to give thickness or body to the rug and greatly reducing the expense as compared with rugs composed entirely of woven fabric.

Although the specification refers to the use of a woven fabric for the purpose of affording a relatively soft and pliable strand, it is not the intention to limit the invention to a strand of woven material, since comparatively satisfactory results may be secured by the use of other relatively soft materials in combination with relatively stiff fibrous materials, such as grass; nor is it the intention to limit the invention to a braiding of the strands, since the-same might be otherwise united to give reasonable satisfaction, although the particular arrangement shown in the drawings-is the one pre- I claim:

1. A length for the making of rugs=consisting of a plurality of constituents braided together, part of the constituents beingota relatively soft, thin and pliable fabric laid fiatwise into the braid to expose a major portion of its surface, :and a part of the constituents being of thick bulky character and composed of bundled lengths of relatively stiff grass-like -material, substantially as described.

2. A length for the making of rugs consisting of a plurality of constituents braided together, one of the constituents being of a relatively soft, thin and riliable fabric :laid fiatwise into the braid to expose a ma or portion of its surface, and two of the strands being ofthiclnbulky character and composed iossnxNT; WAITE. 

